Life doesn't have a rewind button

I have been on an interesting journey in 2013. Somewhere around the middle of March, I stopped feeling sorry for myself about all the hard things I had been enduring. I realized that I was actually lucky and really needed to embrace all the wonderful things that I do have in my life.

It has become a goal of mine to experience, enjoy, and try to change only the things that I can impact and do my best to let go of the things that are beyond my control. One particular thing I realized is that every moment in our lives is exactly that - a moment. It flashes by! We are given each one as a gift, and it is in our hands what we do with it.

Good or bad we can never relive it. Once it is gone...it will always be gone, just a memory. So I ask you to make choices with this in mind. We must follow rules and live responsibly, but we also must take chances. Believe in yourself and your dreams. If an opportunity lies before you, step through that door today, because tomorrow it might be closed and you will wish you could turn back the clock. If you have people in your life who don't know how much they mean to you - tell them today. When you wait for another moment...I'll say it next time...you waste a moment that could have been your last chance.

When you embrace the moment you stop being a bystander and start participating. Personally this means that sometimes I just need to put away my camera and get my hands dirty...plant flowers with the kids...to experience the moment instead of capturing it. For you it might mean you put down your cell phone and toss a ball with your dog. Or call up your grandpa and listen to his childhood stories for the 100th time...there will come a day when you long to hear about how he saved a frog from a snake. Unlock your bedroom door and let your little sister play dress up with your clothes...someday she will have a stylish wardrobe of her own and won't have time to pester you.

﻿Even if you don't like the cards you have been dealt, I challenge you to find a way to make them work. If you throw them away then you are guaranteed to lose, but if you keep an open mind and proceed with creativity the results might surprise you! Life is a forward journey. It can't be stopped or reversed. Embrace each moment you are given, because life does not have a rewind button.